This invention relates to an aircraft design.
There are two principal types of aircraft designs. The first type, such as an airplane, has aerofoil-shaped wings extending outwardly from the sides of the aircraft to provide the lifting force necessary for the aircraft to fly. A second type of aircraft, such as helicopters, have vertically mounted aerofoil-shaped rotors that provide hovering capability.
When air flows past the surfaces of the aerofoil-shaped wings and rotors, a low pressure region forms above the aircraft thereby causing a lifting force on the aircraft which causes the aircraft to move upwardly into the low pressure region. The upward force is proportional to the area of the rotor or wing. The larger the area the higher the upward force. Consequently, airplanes and helicopters have elongated wings and rotors extending from the aircraft, in order to obtain strong lifting forces.
In many airplanes, the length of the elongated wings is often between 4 to 5 times the width of the body of the aircraft. Airplanes with elongated wings have several disadvantages. The large size of the wings necessitate runways with large widths for taking-off and landing the airplane. Runways with long lengths are also necessary because these aircraft must travel at high speeds in order to provide sufficient airflow over the wing surfaces for the aircraft to take-off. It is expensive to construct and maintain numerous long and wide runways within the confines of a city. Thus, it is impractical to use these aircraft to fly short commuting distances, such as for example, for commuting within a city, or between the city and the suburban areas.
Airplanes with wings are also difficult to fly at low speeds and/or low altitudes. High speeds are necessary to generate sufficient air flow across the wing surfaces to provide the necessary lifting force. Low altitude flying is precluded because of the high speeds required for flight.
Helicopters can land and take-off from a smaller runways than airplanes. However, they have other safety-related disadvantages, as discussed below. Aircraft which combine the characteristics of airplanes and helicopters, such as vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can also land and take off from small runways. Although these aircraft are used by the military, they have limited commercial applications, because of their high cost.
Both airplanes and helicopters have significant safety-related disadvantages. Helicopters cannot glide to safety when the rotor engine stops malfunctions because helicopters lack wings. Thus, fatal accidents can result even while flying at low speeds or at low altitudes. Furthermore, engine failures in both airplanes and helicopters often result in fatalities and severe passenger injuries, because modern aircraft lack the ability to absorb the shock of even low impact crashes.
Thus, there is a need for aircraft with short wings that can take-off and land from small runways. There is also the need for aircraft which can fly at low speeds and at low altitudes. Finally, there is a need for safer aircrafts that can endure low impact collisions, without endangering its passengers or cargo.